


Heartlight

by nickelkeep



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bargaining, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, League of Legends lore, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29333931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickelkeep/pseuds/nickelkeep
Summary: When Dean falls in battle, there's only one choice for Castiel. Go to the Lightbringer's Cage.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Heartlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tarend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarend/gifts).



> Okay. I'm giving this a go. As many of my followers know, I haven't been able to post on Ao3 for a while. This is a fic written for the amazing Tarend for his birthday back in October, so I'm posting fics from oldest to newest. I apologize that I'm coming back swinging with an MCD fic, but is it really an MCD fic? I mean...  
> ...  
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://nickelkeep.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nickelwrites).

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Castiel watched in horror as Dean took one, two, then three arrows to the chest. The sick thunk of each one burying deep in Dean’s flesh caused Castiel to cry out in shared pain. Deflecting an arrow, Castiel stopped his attack on the invaders and quickly ran to Dean’s side. He threw his bow over his shoulder and slid his arms around Dean’s chest, pulling him out of range and behind cover.

“Dean, stay with me, please.” Castiel held Dean in his lap, cradling his love in his arms. “Please, Heart-light. Say something.”

With a wet cough, Dean opened his eyes, the once-vibrant green glassed over by the onset of death. “Cas, run. Please. While you still can. This is only the first wave; there will be more.” He reached for his bow, only to find it missing. “Give me your sword. I’ll buy you some time.”

“No!” Castiel looked around for anything to aid him in saving his beloved. “I cannot leave you, and you can’t leave me. The seer promised. We would be one.”

“Cas?” Dean reached up, his shaking hand steadying as he cupped Castiel’s face. “Look at me.” His breathing slowed, and his eyes started to close. “We are one. We will always be one. I’m your Heart-light, and I will always be with you.” Dean coughed, and his hand started to slide down Castiel’s face, causing Castiel to grab it and hold it. “I love you, Heart-light.”

“I love you too.” Castiel sobbed as Dean went limp in his arms. “Dean? Dean!” The din of the battle around Castiel faded as he wailed out in pain. His heart shattered into an innumerable amount of pieces as he held Dean’s lifeless body close to his chest. ”No. No, no, no!”

The sound of the ongoing battle crescendoed around him. Castiel looked up from Dean. The clang of metal hitting metal and the sounds of men and women and both-souls screaming and shouting, all of the chaos surrounding him drove him towards madness. A loud crash, followed by the death-calls of the people caught in the trap, drew Castiel’s to the doors of the temple he and Dean were defending.

“The Lightbringer’s Cage.” Castiel gasped out. “It can fix him.”

After checking to make sure that the way was clear, Castiel lifted Dean’s body in his arms. He tread carefully, as though he were carrying a sleeping lover and not a lifeless shell.

As he tried to cross the threshold into the temple, the hand of one of the half-dead priestesses shot out and grabbed Castiel’s ankle. “Do not go in. You will fall prey to his wiles. He needs you and your Heart-light, Castiel!”

“You told us that what lies inside the temple can fix what is broken. Dean is dead. My Heart-light is broken.” He pulled his ankle out of the dying woman’s hand. “My heart is broken. I need to go to the Lightbringer’s Cage.”

The priestess gurgled out an indecipherable plea before closing her eyes for the last time. Castiel said a brief prayer for her soul before heading into the temple. He quickly found the path to the center of the structure, the way lined with the bodies of the fallen. As he approached the Lightbringer’s Cage - a vast hole that seemed to drop forever - Castiel felt a call, a pull. Even if he had second thoughts about reviving Dean and having his broken heart fixed, there was no way he’d be able to escape the thrall the so-called cage used to entrap him.

_“Bring him here.”_

Castiel looked around the hall. There was no one in the room besides himself and Dean’s body. Even the corpses that had previously littered the room had vanished.

_“I offer you hope, Castiel.”_

“Who’s there?” Castiel tried to step back from the vast and empty well, but the darkness pulled him closer. “Will you help us?”

_“Let your grief be the key that unlocks your retribution.”_

Castiel held Dean closer to his chest, fear gripping him despite the glimmer of hope the disembodied voice offered him. “Please. I can’t live without him.”

_“It is just a leap of faith, Castiel. Believe in the profound bond you share with your Heart-light.”_

“I believe.” Castiel pressed a kiss against Dean’s cold lips. “We will be as one, Heart-light.”

He took the final step, falling into oblivion.

**Author's Note:**

> Are you into Destiel? Do you use Discord? Are you over the age of 18? Looking for a cool group of people to hang out with? Come join the writers, artists, and other amazing Destiel fans on the [Profound Bond Discord Server](https://discord.gg/profoundbond)


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